Inspection device for grain-cars.



B. P. OWENS.

INSPECTION DEVICE FOR GRAIN CARS.

APPLIGATION FILED JAILZO, 1913.

1,078,948. Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

BENJAMIN F. OWENS, or ROCKWELL. our, Iowa.

INSPECTION DEVICE FOR GRAIN-cans.

Specification of Letters patent.

. Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

Applicationfiled JanMaTyZO; 1913. SerialNo.743,2O3;,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. OXVENS,

a citizen of the United States, residingat Rockwell City, in the countyof Calhoun and State of Iowa, have invented acertain new and usefulInspection Device forGra1n.

Cars, of which the following is a specifi cation.

During the shipment and" transportation of grainand the like in boxcars, itis frequently necessary to inspect thegrain with in the car todetermine its condition or quality. done by opening the sealed doors andthen after the inspection closing and resealing them. This requiresconsiderable time and trouble'in connection with the breaking of sealsand unlocklng the doors and replacing seals, etc.

The ob ect of my invention 1s to prov de a device of simple, durable andinexpensive construction that may be used in the-nature of an,attachment for grain cars and that maybe readily, quickly and easilyapplied by insertion into the side walls of grain cars and when onceapplied will be permanently fixed thereto, said devices being soarrangedin the side walls of a box car that an ordinary grain inspectionor test tube be inserted through any one of them and a quantity of thecontents of the car removed by the operator.

7 The devices are also so arranged that grain cannot flow out of the caror rain, snow, dust, etc., enter the car by means of these inspectiondevices, thus efl'ecting a great saving in time and trouble in inspecting the contents of a car.

My invention consists in certain details, in the construction,arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a sectional view of part ofthe grain car having myimproved inspection device placed therein in position for use. Thedotted lines show the cover in position resting against the side of thecar. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of part of a car side with myimproved device in position therein, the hinged cap thereof beingclosed, and Fig. 3'shows an enlarged, detail, vertical, central,sectional view through the device embodying my invention.

Heretofore this has usually been' Referring: to the accompanyingdrawings, V V

I have usedthe reference numeral 10 to indicate the outer'side wall of'abox car'and 11 the inner Wall. These walls are usually spaced apart bythe upright frame members of the car.

My improved inspection device comprises the upper end belng arranged atright angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube and the lowerend beingso arranged that it -will standvertical when within a box car in themanner shown in Fig. 3. It is essential in a device of this kind thatitbe fixed to the a tubular body. portion 12 open at both ends,

wall of a boxcar at a: certain predetermined andprovided with screwopenings and designed tobe fitted against the outer surface oftheflcanside and to be permanently attached thereto by means of screwsinserted through said openings. This plate is preferably formed integralwith the body portion 12 at a point spaced apart from the upper endthereof so that the tube proper projects a slight distance outwardlybeyond the plate.

In order to conveniently use the inspection device, it is necessary thatboth ends .angle orrdegree of inclination, and in order to do so, Iprovide an attaching plate 13" preferably formed integral with the tube12 thereof be open when the inspection or test tubes arebeing insertedand it is also necessary and desirable that the outer end of the testtube be always closed when the tube is not'being used to prevent theentrance of dust, rain, snow, etc. In order to provide for this, I haveplaced on top of the plate .13 a hinge member 14 to which is pivoted acap 15, the cap being designed normally to close the outer end of thetube. I also preferably provide on the free edge of the cap and on theadjacent portion. of the tube 12, two perforated lugs 16 which may, ifdesired, bentilized forv the purpose of receiving a sealing device,although ordinarily this is not necessary. The position and shape of thehinge member 14, the hinged cap 15 and the top of the tube are such thatwhen the device is properly attached to a car side the hinged cap may beswung to open position and will then be raised against the side of thecar and remain open. When however there is a slight jar or agitation ofthe car such, for instance, as when it is moving, the position of thehinged cover is so near a vertical line that it will be shaken from itsopen position and will then fall by gravity to its closed position andwill there serve to prevent the entrance'of dust, snow, rain, etc.

By having the plate 13 formed integral with the tube 12 or firmly fittedto it, and by having it spaced apart from the outer end of the tube, Iprevent the possibility of rain beating against the side of the carentering the interior of the car either around the plate 13 or at thetop of the tube might. be the case it"- the tube were flush with theplate 13.

The entire device may be readily and uickl a) lied to an kind of graincar by simply boring a hole of the proper size through the walls of thecar, then inserting the tube and securing the plate 13 by screws.

Sn account of the angle at which the tube is extended grain from theinterior of the car will not flow upwardly and cloutwardly through thetube above a horizontal line drawn through the top of the lower end ofthe tube so that no waste of the grain occurs by the use of my improvedinspection device.

By means of this construction the tube may be made so'sinall asto'prevent the entrance of a persons hand so that grain cannot readilyand easily be taken from the car through the tube.

I claim as my invention:

An inspection device for grain cars, COIII- prising a tubular bodyportion open at both ends, an attaching plate formed integral with thetube at a pointspaced apart from the upper end of the tube, saidattaching plate being so positioned on the tube that when the attachingplate is in a vertical position the body of'the tube will be inclined atan angle of about fifty degrees relative to the plate, a hinge memberformed on top of the plate, a cover hinged to said hinge member anddesigned, in one position, tostand at approximately right angles to thelongitudinal axis of the tube and cover the upper end thereof, and inanother position to swing slightly past a vertical line through thehinge center to rest against the side of the object to which theattaching plate is fixed, for the purposes stated.

Des lvioines, Iowa, Jan. 10, 1913.

V BENJAMIN F. OWENS.

Witnesses M. VVALLAOE, A. G. HAGUE.

' Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of l atents,

' Washington, D. C.

